DIY Garbage Disposers

Some sinks aren't piped correctly for a garbage disposer because the house plumbing predates them, the original builder didn't want one or the piping was installed incorrectly.

This doesn't stop a lot of people from installing one, though, and from water's p.o.v., it's like installing a tire that is a different size than the others.

This disposer is a perfect example. The installer reversed the p-trap and a few other things that are beyond me:

I took the garbage disposer out, installed a new strainer, trap, and reconnected the dishwasher:

DIY Garage Apartment in Bellingham, WA

Sometimes, people really amaze me. Without getting into the who, where, or why of this job, the customer hired not-a-plumber to bootleg a kitchen and washing machine into a garage. Money and time was spent before it all went bad due to old, open permits on the legal unfinished bathroom in the garage.

My camera committed suicide while taking these photos, so the camera phone will have to do.

This photo has two different plastics glued together using primer and ABS glue, the washing machine hose tied into the sewer (they used long w.m. hoses behind walls and through studs, no p-trap):

This is some of what I cut out. If a plumber ever had a bad acid trip, this is what he would see:

The people who framed the legal bathroom got into the act and put a nail through the pipe app 6" below finished floor:

Toilets

Ball Plumbing does toilets, too.

This 20 y.o. toilet was in a master bathroom of a nicer Bellingham home. Notice the leak in the back.

This is its replacement. It's a Comfort Height (a few inches higher bowl) model with a slow closing lid:

Sewer repair in Mt. Vernon, Wa

This was a messy one.

This configuration tied two neighbor's sewers together. The neighbor had replaced his sewer 20 years ago, but the tie-in was still on my customer's line, as was the main sewer.

We had to dig it up, put in a clean out to access the 80' that runs under slab and a clean out to do the sewer to the street. Confusing, yes. And dirty.

After we did the repairs, we still had to clean the sewer.

Before:

Apprentice:

After:

Water pipe in Fairhaven, Wa

No, not the water pipe to smoke with. This job was in Fairhaven, Wa  from the water meter to inside the house. We replaced the sewer, too.

Plumber's Office

I saw Google's facilities http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/#/tech and was amazed on how clean and controlled the environment is:

This is a typical plumber work condition. It was 35f  there that day and the plumbers spent two days repiping because of multiple freeze breaks:

Not too many pics of that job. The plumbers were more interested in getting it done...:

While residential plumbing may not be Google-level pipe fitting, residential plumbers are artists in their own right.

Call Before You Dig: A Free Service

There's a phone number everyone must call before digging in your yard.

That number is 811.

The website: www.call811.com

What happens when you call 811 is a request goes out to all the utilities and they send locators out who will mark the utilities at your property line. If the mark is near where you are digging, be very, very careful digging around it.

If it's an emergency, they get right on it. Otherwise, it's a 48 hour turn around.

For example, the picture is a typical yard (happens to be in Fairhaven) within a few inches of the public sidewalk. The yellow pipe is gas, the small white pipe is unknown (!), the large white pipe is drainage, and the old rusty pipe is their water main, which the plumbers replaced.

All those pipes were less than 8" below ground level. Scary stuff.

Remember 811 and it is 100% free.